Question about cruising to Cuba and OFAC

[Yunah]

Hi everyone,

 

I searched this forum but couldn't find much on the OFAC and the cruise to Cuba. My parents and I will be sailing to Cuba (and Great Stirrup Cay) on May 29th from Miami. We are Dutch citizens so we will arrange for the Cuban visas over here as the website states that this needs to be done by the passenger(s) themselves. So that's ticked. :)

 

Now there's the issue with the OFAC. This needs to be emailed at least 30 days before departure, ok fine, we can do that. But what about the activities?? We'll be going under the people to people category but are we meant to talk to people in the street? Do we need to do some special activities? What constitues "full time" people to people activities? Do we need to keep a record of who we talked to and when? I'm confused :confused: And I'd rather not be arrested on departure for not complying with the rules, haha.

 

Any help is appreciated!

[chengkp75]

As Dutch citizens, not sure what effect OFAC would have on you. This only applies to US citizens, and their dealings with certain designated individuals and entities. As far as I know, the limitation on going to Cuba for specific categories of travel (people to people cultural exchange, as you say) is only for US citizens, and Dutch citizens have been allowed to visit Cuba all along.

 

Are you US Resident Aliens? Just thought of that, and that changes things, as Green Card holders must comply with OFAC. To the best of my knowledge, there is no requirement to log times spent in cultural activities based on recent changes to the program, where you can do activities on your own. I've not heard of any investigations of folks after the fact. You might want to browse the "fathom" forum since they were the first line to take US citizens to Cuba, and see what others have said about activities on their own, and what is required.

[Yunah]

As Dutch citizens, not sure what effect OFAC would have on you. This only applies to US citizens, and their dealings with certain designated individuals and entities. As far as I know, the limitation on going to Cuba for specific categories of travel (people to people cultural exchange, as you say) is only for US citizens, and Dutch citizens have been allowed to visit Cuba all along.

 

 

That is true but since we are sailing from Miami (ie US) we need to fill this in too.

[snchpnz]

Just fill out that you are doing the general people to people travel thing and that's it. Don't worry about it. No one from the U.S. government currently checks what you are doing while in Cuba and I doubt that at any point in the future will they go back and call thousands of cruise ship passengers asking to see their itinerary/personal travel journals from their trip to Cuba. It's all just a technicality to get around the embargo.

[hawkeyetlse]

OFAC's FAQ for travel to Cuba can be found here (but it is dated January 6, 2017, so it could go *poof* at any moment…) Points 13 and 14 give guidance about the people-to-people general license.

 

You are supposed to keep a record of your activities, but they give no specific guidelines about the form of these records, only that they have to demonstrate a full-time schedule of authorized activities, and that you have to keep these records for 5 years. Ship excursions typically provide customers with a journal of the tour, with descriptions and photos of the visits, etc. If you are on your own, I think you can just make a list of your activities with approximate times, take photos, and hold on to receipts, transport tickets, etc.

 

If you are not a US citizen and not resident in the US, NCL may require you to go through the same motions as American guests, but you will not normally be challenged by US authorities about your time in Cuba.

[hannibal54]

I know as a US citizen, we have to keep our OFAC form for 5 years after our cruise. Is there a travel web site for your country that you could check to find out your requirements to travel to Cuba?

[Yunah]

Thanks for the replies so far!

 

With regards to my citizenship. I am in fact dutch and I live in the Netherlands however since we board the ship in the US we are considered US citizens.

When travelling from the Netherlands there are no additional rules, except for the visa of course.

 

I guess I'll just have to make a looooot a photos and keep track of everything just in case. :) thanks again!